JECINTA: DEMAND ALL THE SPAZA SHOPS BEEN GIVEN BACK TO SOUTH AFRICANS

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]They're really really passionate about this anti- xenophobia notion that they keep pushing.

[00:00:05]>> Do you think you are going to win this uh campaign of making sure this immigrant are going back to their homes?

[00:00:11]>> There's no other option. We're not going to leave our country like this for our children. What do you think will happen if our children had to grow up with more and more of these places mushrooming everywhere? Like do you think that South African children will ever be comfortable? I mean, we've got children who've never been to town to the CBD because it's been taken over by people that we don't know, who are selling any and everything unregulated. The laws of the country are not being enforced. And now the only time that the government remembers that there's laws in this country is when they're telling us about how to march, you have to march within the law. Tell everyone who's in this country illegally that they are breaking the laws of this country. All those businesses, all those shops that are open there, they are not legal. They are not paying taxes. These people are foreign nationals and there are rules for foreign nationals to open shops in this country. You can't have businesses mushrooming every single place and think that's normal and think that's okay. The economy of this country belongs to South Africans and we demand that all of these other shops and shops be given back to South Africans.

[00:01:07]>> But you will agree though that even though there is a huge influx of illegal um immigrants in South Africa, it's not their own doing.

[00:01:15]>> No, it is No, it is their own doing. You can't say it's not your own doing that you came into a country illegally. When we go to other countries, we respect that country's laws. We come with a passport. We come with the visa. When it's time to go, we get out. If you come into South Africa with a passport that allows you to stay for 30 days, when it's 50 days, when it's 2 years, when it's 5 years, you know, you're breaking the law. Of course, it's your fault.

[00:01:36]>> But corruption by South African officials, >> but we are not going to take away that foreigners themselves also have to take some responsibility. We know our government is corrupt. We know South Africans are also contributors, but the foreign nationals themselves are not innocent. And the thing that makes it like this for them to keep playing the victim card is because everyone wants to treat them like victims. The minute they come in here, they come with babies on their backs. And then everyone forgets that South Africans has its own babies that it needs to take care of. They have children. They must take care of those children in their own countries. We want a Africa that works. We want a Africa that survives for all African countries, not an Africa that's going to be here in South Africa. That's not that's not a functional Africa.

[00:02:14]>> One last one from you. Do you think government is playing a part in also assisting you in making sure that your campaign does become successful in making sure that >> look if we were if government was part of this we wouldn't be marching so much.

[00:02:26]Our government like I said I continue to say government has people who are politicians and they are disguised as politicians but they're actually business people. So they are busy protecting their business interests in all these other countries their minds and whatever and we have to suffer because of that. Now we are tired of politicians who don't know what they're doing in parliament. If they were there knowing exactly what they're doing in parliament, they would be listening to the cries of the people. We are tired of drugs. We shouldn't be having even a madanga commission today. But we have it because of those same politicians who decided that they are pushing their interest before our interest as South Africans. We didn't vote so we can have places like this. We didn't vote so that we have to pay our taxes to support the whole of Africa. That's not what we're here for. We have we have children that still need to find a country that's functional. When you look at this building, do you think that this country is going to survive any longer? It won't survive. It won't.

[00:03:15]>> Is there anything you wish to say to immigrants who have come to South Africa legally and have businesses here and have said that they fear for their own safety because of the protest and that businesses are being affected.

[00:03:28]>> Look, I think anyone who's here illegally doesn't have anything to worry about. And also they also should be making their voices heard when it comes to illegal immigration instead of talking about xenophobia and and trying to be victims here. If this was happening in their own country, they would also feel the same way that we do because we don't have a problem with people coming into the country. We keep on saying that. Come in legally the same way we always go to other countries. We have passports, we have visas, we travel. What they're doing is not traveling. They are invading the country under the disguise of traveling. You don't travel to a country for years and stay there. That's not traveling. You don't become a burden and start wanting free things. You see them on TV screaming for SASA grants. Do we owe those Ethiopians and Somalian SASA grants? We don't pay taxes so they can go and have and have 50 children and then we must we must pay for those children. They must go back to their countries. They must go back.

[00:04:17]>> The illegal immigrants um who say that they fear for their lives. Do you think they are correct to say that?

[00:04:25]>> If they feared for their lives, they wouldn't be here. Remember, they left their countries because they feared for their lives, didn't they? Now if they fear for their lives, what's stopping them from going to the next country? Why are they still fighting to be in South Africa? If you fear for your life and you are an immigrant, this is the best time to go back home. I mean you fear for your life. You ran away from your country because you feared for your life. Why are you fighting in South Africa? What are you fighting for?

[00:04:46]Because not your country. Go back and fight in your country or find another country to go to. We also have our own problems now. We've got many problems.

[00:04:54]The youth is unemployed. The youth is on drugs. There's problems. We are tired.